August 28, 2025 – Thursday of the 21st week of Ordinary Time
Homily
Today's Gospel, taken from one of the last chapters of Matthew's Gospel, highlights one of the major challenges of Christian life: that of remaining vigilant, persevering, and faithful to the end.
The house that God has entrusted to us and that we must not allow to be invaded by the evil spirit is certainly the Church and our community; but it is above all our own spirit, our own person, that we must watch over so that the enemy has no access to it.
We are servants of the One who made himself the servant of all; and the Master expects to find us, at any moment, not only clothed as servants, but serving. At this level, it would be wrong to try to find an opposition between action and contemplation, active life and contemplative life.
Just as Jesus once said, “My Father is always working, and I am working too,” he says here, “Blessed is the servant whom the master finds working when he returns.” We are not contemplative when we are not working, and certainly not simply because we are not working. We are contemplative when we are united with God in a deep relationship of love, which is best expressed when we serve our sisters and brothers.
Similarly, being “vigilant” does not mean being immobile and inactive, waiting for whatever may happen, but rather being alert and active, totally dedicated to the task entrusted to us.
*** We celebrate today the memorial of saint Augustine.
Armand Veilleux